A Pictures Worth 1000 Words
by crazy4naruto
Summary: Is sakura truly dead? Will Naruto uncover the secrets that ANBU have been hidng along with a secret about himself and his past?
1. The Pictures

**_DISCLAIMER:_** I do **not** own Naruto or any of the characters. Only the plot of **this fan fiction** is mine and nothing else.

"_Ding...Ding...Ding"_ The clock in Naruto's room went off. 7:00am. This gave him 3 hours to get ready for the funeral. It was a sad day for all of Haruno Sakura's friends, acquaintances, and family members.

Naruto changed into his tux, put on his shoes, and ate some breakfast. He knew it was stupid to eat after putting his nice clothes on and that he should have dressed before eating so his clothes wouldn't get messy, but he didn't care. He only cared about Sakura.

_Why? How?_ Naruto thought to himself repeatedly. As the minutes went by his questions grew. _Why Sakura? How did she die?_ To_ Why did Sakura have to die on that mission? How did they fool someone so smart into death? Why did she go alone? Did she know she was going to die? Did she leave me here so I could be saved?_

Naruto got up and put his dishes away. He walked out the door and met up with Hinata and Kiba on the way to the funeral. They all stayed quiet for the whole way.

At the funeral Sakura's parents spoke a few words for her while she was being buried. Hinata started to cry a little and Ino sobbed because they had just started to become best friends again after all those years.

_So I'm the only one left in the Sasu-Saku-Naru Team huh?_ Naruto thought to himself.

After the funeral Naruto walks home sadly and finds a package waiting for him. He brings it inside right before it starts to rain.

_TO: NARUTO_

_FROM: H.S_

_OCTOBER 12_

H.S? Who could that be? Naruto thought as he started to open the package.

Inside were photos of Sakura.

Sakura. Naruto thought. Could this be from Sakura? It can't be. It was sent today and Sakura died 3 days ago... But H.S is for... Haruno Sakura...How could this possibly be true?

Naruto had all these ideas and thought jumbled in his head.-_BOOM!-_ Thunder had started. Naruto got up and closed the window that was next to his bed so it wouldn't get anymore wet.

Sakura... What are you trying to tell me?

Naruto examined the pictures closer to discover they were all taken a few hours ago. He could tell by the date and time in the corner of the picture. That can't be...Sakura if you are still alive then...but what about the funeral?

Naruto looked even closer and saw that in each and every picture was a man wearing a mask from ANBU. Naruto wasn't sure about what to think.

Are they hiding her? Are they keeping here away for something secret? If they are why would she send these pictures to me? What is she saying? Naruto looked into the box that the pictures were in to discover a note.

It was written in blood.

_Naruto. I'm still alive. Please help me. The pictures -blurred words- back of them -blurred words- map. Follow the numbers. -blurred words- captive._

Naruto looked at the back of the pictures and discovered it was a puzzle. He put them together first by the date on the front to discover it was a map of the forest outside of Konoha and then discovered he could arranged them into a map of the village.

Which one is it? Forest or village? Naruto decided to get more help but wanted to keep it a secret from Granny Tsunade so he could go on the mission instead of having her put someone else on the job.

Who should I bring?


	2. So its a map of!

_Who should I bring?_

knockknockknock

"How troublesome...a visitor on Sunday morning" said the young chunin. He got up and answered the door.

"SHIKAMARU! Your really smart so I thought you could help me out with this thing, you see, Sakura sent me a package last night even though she was dead, or we all thought she was dead but she's not and she's in grave danger so-"

"Slow down Naruto. What do you mean Sakura is not dead?"

"I MEAN THAT SHE'S STILL ALIVE AND THAT SHE'S BEEN KIDNAPPED BY ANBU!"

"Naruto ANBU are the good guys remember? And if Sakura's still alive then what did they bury at her funeral?"

"Shikamaru! You're not listening! Look! LOOK! This package was sent by H.S right? That is for Haruno Sakura. Ok? Ok? And look at the date! It was sent after she died! AFTER! And look at these pictures! Look at the dtae and time in the corner of each and everyone! And in each picture is an ANBU guy!

"The camera could have gotten the dates wrong and maybe she took pictures WITH that guy."

"Then Shikamaru, Mr. Smart-EEE, what about this letter?"

Naruto handed Shika the letter. Shika carefully examined it and after a couple of minutes spoke up.

"Hmm...well you can't tell for sure by the blurry parts, but she may still be alive..."

"May? What do you mean? She said that she WAS still alive!"

"Yes but there is also the word captive and if she is the one who is being held captive, then well, they might have already killed her... Naruto give me the pictures."

"Ok Shika, but I have to tell you that arranged them into 2 different ways. One of the forest and one of the village!"

"Naruto tell me how you laid them both ways."

Naruto walked into Shika's house and carefully laid out the pistures.

"First I put them in order by date and time. See?"

Naruto took the pictures and placed them in order.

"You're right Naruto. There is the waterfall, and there is the clearing."

"Then I saw that I could arrange them into the village."

Naruto switched the pictures around.

"Naruto, you dumbass. If that's the village then what is this big clump right here?"

"I'm not a dumbass! This is my house, this is Ichiruka's Ramen, and here is Granny Tsunade's building, and this is the academy!"

"Then where is the Training ground, the spa, and the market place?"

Naruto stared at the picture for a while then pointed to a part of the map.

"This is the spa, and here is the market place. The training ground is...right here!"

"Wrong. The spa is supposed to be closer to the training ground and the market place is right in front of Tsunade-sama's building."

Naruto groaned.

"I guess it's the forest then."

"Well let's go!"

"Hold on Naruto. We can't go there by ourselves. We need a team."

Naruto groaned again.

"Well Shika who are we going to take? Everyone in your old team is out on a mission and everyone in my team is..."

Naruto got quiet.

"Well then we'll have to take anyone we find."

"What?"

"Hey its better than nothing."

"Hmph. Fine then!"


End file.
